The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a carrying autonomous vehicle system and methods and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a carrying autonomous vehicle system capable of loading and/or unloading at least one carried autonomous vehicle.
Hazardous or hostile conditions have led to a need to minimize or restrict human presence in the hazardous environment. Mobile robots can be used in a first response to environments containing hazardous chemicals, radioactive substances, unexploded ordnance, and other hazards; in hostile adversary situations such as special forces operations, security force responses, bomb neutralizing, search and rescue operations, and adversary surveillance and monitoring; and in accident scenarios in industries such as mining to serve as a quick-response hazards sensor in synergy with an observation platform.
When the hazardous environment also imposes requirements for high mobility or obstacle climbing, as well as a need to overcome communication range limitations and communication blackout situations, robotic control systems need to provide an operator with versatile communications and video options for new generations of mobile robots.
Vehicles in mobile robot systems come in varying sizes, from small miniature robotic vehicles (for example, vehicles substantially the size of a paperback book), to approximately ⅓-meter long vehicle platforms, to mid-sized 1-meter long platform robotic vehicles, to even human-carrier-sized robotic vehicles. An example wheeled robotic vehicle is a RATLER™, like those developed by Sandia National Laboratories. A robotic vehicle system generally has a robotic vehicle and a system for controlling the robotic vehicle.